Birth of a Novel: In the thick of it

At times, I feel like the Dunkin Donuts guy from those commercials in the 80s and 90s. "Time to write the novel," I groan, dragging myself to my laptop. Writing is hard, lonely and often unending work. Even when I finish PINCH OF THIS, I'll start another manuscript...okay, okay, I've got two others sitting open on my laptop begging to be finished as well. There are days that writing feels a lot more like work than others.

Somewhere between the 10,000 and 20,000 word mark, I hit a wall. The story stops making sense, I've lost track of what I the point I was making with all this, I consider making massive changes or scrapping the project altogether. Happens every single time. Having the experience of more than a dozen books under my belt helps me talk myself down from the heights of panic, but this loss of focus and inspiration used to leave me cold for days or weeks at a time when I first started writing.

Here's where I am with PINCH OF THIS: I'm 20,000 words in. I've got my characters' motivations and backstory down. I've got them acting out their wildest fantasies, but I just don't know why they started this journey. Does it even really make sense or did I use a device to push things along? And then there's Octavio from the first part of the tale. I really liked him so wouldn't Jennifer really like him and want to keep in touch? And would William really break down in tears at this point and explore his feelings of inadequacy after being fired? I mean he has to break down at some point and realize how emotionally unavailable he's been. Doesn't he? I just don't know.

So what do when you've hit the wall? First of all--don't panic. It's a natural part of writing and you will get through it if you don't give up. Two, if possible, stick to your guns. Push through a few days and stay the course. If that doesn't work, make minor changes and I cannot stress the word minor enough. There's nothing worse than slashing and burning at this point. That will only lead to massive re-writes which can lead to an endless loop of re-writes. Try tweaking your vision a little here and there and see if that clears the way.

Also, it might be time to phone a friend. Enlist your beta reader to read what you've written up to this point and offer an unbiased opinion. Or you can just discuss the project with another writer or your crit group (if you belong to one) and brainstorm a solution.

If absolutely necessary, step away from the book for a day...maybe two, but be careful this sabbatical doesn't turn into months of inactivity. I often work through a plot snag while kneading bread dough. Not sure why this works, but manual labor in general seems to get the creative juices flowing. Before I know it, I'm at the laptop typing with my elbows because I didn't want to stop and wash the flour from my hands lest I lose the thread of thought that will pull everything together.

Above all, don't give up. I know I sound like a broken record, but when asked how I write so much I reply, "I just write. Everyday." Good, bad or ugly, I keep doing it. Have faith that the clouds will part and you'll feel the light of a finished manuscript on your face.

Next time, I'll talk about the end game. How to finish up that novel and know where to stop.

Cheers,
Cindy

The #NextBigThing Blog Hop

Thanks to Brigit Aine for inviting me to be a part of the Next Big Thing Blog Hop!

Here's a bit about my latest WIP:

What is the working title of your book?

Sanctuary. It is book one in the Silk and Steel series. Though it's set in a fictional world, it has a very medieval feel to it, replete with knights and lady and court intrigue.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I was watching the Showtime series Camelot (really wish they hadn't cancelled the show!) and I thought it would a lot of fun to come up with my own medieval romance...with an erotic twist of course.

What genre does your book fall under? 

I would consider it fantasy because I chose to create a fictional world...you know, rather than do all that historical research, lol.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Duke Ahron - Chris Hemsworth

Lady Merewyn - Olivia Wilde

Lord Magus Leontes - Matthew Gray Grubler 

Queen Cillan - Charlize Theron

King Owain - Taylor Lautner

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

To save her son, one woman seduces a powerful magician though she's in love with the most noble of knights.

Where do you plan to submit your book, or will you self published it? Will you be submitting it to agents and NYC publishers first.

I will be submitting this book though not to agents or NYC publishers. I have my sites set on a major e-publisher for this one.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

About six months, but that was working off and on, not straight through.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

He Calls Her Jasmine by Ann Jacobs or Bound by Honor - An Erotic Novel of Maid Marian by Colette Gale. 

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

I've always loved the Arthurian legend and Robin Hood. Having created a few roguish heroes in past works, I know I love writing about them and the women strong enough to tame them.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

More than a love triangle, there are all sorts of entanglements between the four main characters--Ahron, Merewyn, Leontes and Cillan. So, yeah...it's complicated *grin*

Thanks again to Brigit for tagging me as one of her chosen authors. Please visit the wonderful authors I've tagged. Not only are they beloved colleagues and friends, but they are also goddesses of the written word!

Denise Bridger

Regina Carlysle

Desiree Holt

Karen Stivali

And the winner is...#CandyCaneKink Blog Hop!

Thanks to everyone who hopped with us! My winner is Amy, congrats :) I'll email you for your address and get your goodies on the way!

Cheers,
Cindy
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Happy holidays to all my bad girls and boys! I'll be giving away a signed copy of my book RECLAIMED and a holiday cinnamon and cranberry bath set and candle. You'll be all set to relax with a good book and surround yourself with the scents of the season.

To me, the holidays are all about family. The fictional family I've created that I love the most are the Logans, the main characters in the PIRATES AT HEART series. A clan of bootleggers, pirates and outlaws, they stick together through thick and thin...even if the occasional squabble arises. Here's an unedited excerpt from SAILOR'S KNOT, book three in the series, coming soon to Ellora's Cave.

Sailor’s Knot

Cindy Jacks

Book three of the Pirates at Heart series

The year is 2037 and the next generation of the Logan family pirates have taken over the helm of The Yellow Rose. Running bootleg booze and smuggling runners from the Reformed States of America into the Republic of Texas, business couldn’t be better…that is if brothers Marcus and Nathaniel don’t kill each other in the process.

Captain Marcus Logan is serious, brooding and haunted, carrying a torch for his first mate, Amelie. Nathaniel—the resident party boy—is none of those things, but somehow they’d made their differences work for them until recently. When the tall, leggy blonde, Captain Ruby Delaney, is a guest aboard The Rose, she turns Nathaniel’s head and stirs up all sorts of trouble, not the least of which is winding up in Marcus’ bed one drunken night. This ill-advised one night stand ignites a love quadrangle so intertwined that the phrase “it’s complicated” doesn’t begin to define this sailor’s knot.

Excerpt:

Turning over in his mind what he would say, Marcus trudged along the corridor to Amelie’s room. It was time to lay his cards on the table. If only he could explain to her that he’d been foolish, that he’d let his dick do the thinking, that it was the pain over her rejection that had driven him into Ruby’s arms.

Okay, maybe he’d save that last bit for a future conversation. He wanted to reconcile, not drive her to homicide. Maybe he could explain that he’d lost his mind because all he'd ever wanted was Amelie in his arms again, but he was doing his best to accept that she never would be. And facing a future without her in it at all―not even as his business partner―was more than he could bear.

If she would only forgive him, if she would only stay on as his first mate, he’d promise to keep his feelings for her in check and he’d never bring his sex life aboard the ship again. It would be strictly business, but she had to stay. She had to.

Yes, if he could say all of that then everything would be all right. But that he’d never put so many words together in his entire life seemed a huge obstacle. He had to try. He owed her that much after the blow he’d dealt her.

Steeling himself to the task at hand, he approached her door. He’d just raised a hand to rap on it when it creaked open. Boots in hand, Nate appeared, half-dressed. Marcus stopped. Had he taken a wrong turn? Had he walked to Nate’s cabin out of habit? Why, then, had all the color drained from Nate’s face?

“Oh. MW.” Nate gave a curt nod.

A shard of ice stabbed Marcus’ heart. What had his brother done? What the fuck was going on? But Marcus knew the answer to that question. Didn’t he?

“What did you do, Nate?” Marcus growled.

“None of your fucking business.”

Marcus’ temper went off like a shot—he heard himself roaring at his brother as though he were listening to someone else. His hands were on Nate’s throat and Marcus tossed him against hallway wall. Striking wildly, Marcus smashed his fist into his brother’s nose. Nate caught him in the chin with an upper cut and they tumbled to the floor. Marcus continued to throw punches, some landing, some blocked. They continued to brawl, their shouts drawing others out of their cabins.

“Marcus!” Amelie shrieked.

She tugged at his collar clearly desperate to pull him off her new lover.

“Marcus, please.” She was frantic.

Somehow forcing himself off of Nate, Marcus struggled to his feet. He rounded on Amelie who was now sobbing—and wearing Nate’s shirt.

“What the fuck?” he shouted. “What the fuck, Amelie? Jesus fucking Christ.”

“Marcus, please—”

“’Marcus, please’ what? Oh no, I deserved this right? Yeah, fine.” He was so angry he shook.

“And you—” He turned to Nate. “If you weren’t my brother, I’d kill you with my bare hands.”

Amelie sank to her knees, tending to Nate’s bloody nose.

Walk away, Marcus told himself. That’s what he’d have to do, walk away and keep walking until there was enough space between him and Nate that Marcus couldn’t do something he’d regret…one day.

Still shaking, he stormed into his own cabin. Ruby was there, draped over his desk chair, reading a book.

“Get out.” He jerked a thumb at the door. Blood dripped down his hands, his knuckles split open.

“What’s wrong, sugar?”

“Just get out. Pick any room you like, but you can’t stay here.” He stripped off his master key and threw it at her feet. “Steal the fucking boat again if you want.”

“What happened?” She stood.

He uncorked at bottle of whiskey, pouring some over his hands one at a time. “Ruby, I’m going to get stupid drunk and I want to be alone. It’s nothing you’ve done.”

“Okay. I’ll go. But I’m not sure you should be by yourself,” she replied, uncharacteristically compliant.

Turning away, he downed several gulps. His chest warmed bringing with it the slightest bit of numbness. How Marcus longed to be completely numb. Bulletproof.

“If you want, I’ll look after the bridge.” Ruby dressed.

“Do whatever you want. Everyone else on this fucking boat does.” He drank more.

“Marcus…please, tell me what’s going on.”

“Amelie slept with Nate,” he mumbled, hanging his head. The pain of the admission seeping into his veins. Tears prickled in his eyes. He would not cry. He would not cry like some pathetic loser.

“I can stay.”

He choked on a sob sinking onto his bunk, his head in his hands. “Please go.”

“Okay,” she murmured.

He heard her collect his key and slip out the cabin door.

Like what you read? Don't forget to snatch up a copy of LANDLOCKED and SMUGGLER'S BLUES, books one and two!

http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9305-landlocked.aspx

http://www.jasminejade.com/p-10505-smugglers-blues.aspx

And don't forget to keep on hopping! Visit more blogs and leave some love for more chances to win great prizes.

http://closeencounterswiththenightkind.blogspot.com/2012/08/candy-cane-kink-giveaway-hop-sign-up.html

Happy Holidays!

Cindy

Birth of a Novel: But is it any good???

If I had a nickel for every time I or an author friend posed this question: Is what I'm writing any good? It's a natural for us to want our baby (aka manuscript) to be as good as we know how to make it. But the fact of the matter is, the first draft is not the time to worry about the quality. Right now, it is all about the quantity so write, write, write.

If NaNoWriMo teaches us anything, it's that to complete a novel, you gotta work. You have to produce word count and if you worry about every word choice, every sentence fragment, every nuance of a scene, you cannot make forward progress. Nothing is ever perfect and really, it's just another delay tactic to avoid the hard road ahead. A novel is a marathon, not a sprint.

During your first draft, give yourself permission to make mistakes because you're going to. I just went back and read some of the stuff I dashed off in the first couple of days of my current project, PINCH OF THIS and realized it doesn't work with what I'm building now. Did I go back and fix it? Not yet and here's why: I don't know exactly how this journey is going to wrap up and what seems out of place or just plain nutty right now may not seem so when I'm done. There's no sense going back and editing and re-editing something that doesn't have a full form. Don't get caught in that endless loop. Lots of first time writers do and that's also why you'll hear more people say "I'm working on a novel" as opposed to "I've written a novel."

Though you might cringe later, write whatever feels appropriate now. There's always the backspace and delete buttons, but ONLY after the first draft is complete. The hard fact of the matter is that none of it may seem very cohesive once you read it as a finished product, but you won't know UNTIL you finish. So keep plugging away and save the self-edits for another day. Hey, that rhymes. Hee hee.

Next time, we'll talk about how to keep the inspiration flowing because a novel or even a novella is a long haul.

Cheers,
Cindy